This Week in Geek (2-8/06/08)

Buys

Tons, most of it on sale, so I'm really spending money to save money, and that's how I justify it. Here's a list of DVDs that'll have to stand on its own: The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus, Bubble, Gangs of New York, Juno, Hot Fuzz, The Wire Season 1, Matchstick Men, All the President's Men, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Glengarry Glenross, and Doctor Who's Beneath the Surface boxed set, which includes Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils, and Warriors of the Deep.

"Accomplishments"

Finished Chuck Palahniuk's Choke, a novel that's been turned into an August cinematic release. The big question is: How are they going to do this with only an R rating? I'm being facetious, it's quite doable, but the book is pretty pornographic at times, not to say obscene, which it also is. In a nutshell, it's about a sex addict who pays for his criminally insane mother's health care by faux-choking in restaurants and collecting favors from the "heroes" he creates. It's also a perverse version of the New Testament. So there. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though yeah, sometimes it did read a little too much like Fight Club.

On the DVD side of things, I flipped the first season of the newly arrived The Wire, which I'd heard good things about, but never seen. Turned out to be a real joy. I can only rave about its authenticity and dark humor, and I think the creators succeeded in their goal (according to the three included commentaries) of crafting a novel for television. There's a lot of subtle mirroring of scenes and other directorial and scriptwriting tricks that make this easily rewatchable. I'll be investing in the remaining seasons.

Last Role-Playing Monday, we wrapped up our little superhero game. Not a big revelation - I've been supers gaming on and off for years now, and this wasn't one of the better games - but I still enjoyed the idea of starting with highly experienced characters who had all these archenemies going after them for past deeds not explained.